October 30, 2010

At the Rally to Restore Sanity — or, I should say, on the Rally to Restore Sanity, because I'm watching C-SPAN — it was great to see Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) singing his great old song "Peace Train." It was also amusing to have Ozzy Osbourne barge in with "Crazy Train" and okay for the O'Jays to resolve matters with "Love Train."

From my TV perspective, it looked like a huge crowd on the Mall. It was overwhelming white. And — I'm not lying — I wrote "overwhelmingly" before I remembered that "overwhelmingly white" had become a hilariously common way to refer to crowds drawn to conservative rallies.

The crowd also looked pretty young and disproportionately male. Because it's comedy?

UPDATE: Ed Morissey has video of the Cat Stevens performance and a good summary of the controversy — which also comes up in the comments to my post — about presenting Stevens as an emissary of peace when he spoke with some degree of approval of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

Billions of Muslims in the world and Stewart and Colbert ask Cat Stevens, who endorses the fatwa issued calling for the murder of Salmon Rushdie, to appear on stage. Odd definition what does/does not constitute both sanity and extremism. *LOL*

It is a "back at you" reaction to the current Democratic Party's claim that the Republican Party is no more than a desperate attempt to revive the Jefferson-Madison wing of the old Republican Democrat Party.

"I think you're missing what was supposed to be the theme for the rally.'

Yeah the theme is juveniles of all ages participating in a circle jerk of self-congratulation for their imagined "sanity", peppered with lame attempts at humor.

If I was a lefty I'd be embarrassed.

On the other hand if I was stupid enough to be a lefty I'd be too stupid to realize the magnitude of assclownery displayed at "Rally to Reassure Ourselves That We’re Not the Ones Who F***ed Everything Up", as Jim treacher aptly describes it.

Checked in on this sporadically between football. Mostly incoherent and not funny, but I did think Stewart's closing speech had some good spots. Particularly the notion that most people in the country are working together every day on things that have nothing to do with politics. When we follow the rule of "no political or religious discussion in polite company" it's conducive to productive engagement.

Stephen Colbert has become extremely tiresome. How is his brand of humor contributing to "restoring sanity"?

wv hemaggra: a drug that helps the vein in the middle of your forehead pop out.

Not only do most whites not hate themselves, over and over they flee an area which has become wondrously marvelously diverse in order to be with other whites and only other whites. But guess what? The blacks and hispanics who can barely contain their legitimate rage around whitey? They always follow, because mysteriously those all white areas are so much more livable.

MSNBC likes to point out how racist the Tea Party is. And yet, the management of General Electric is almost wholly white. There are no black MSNBC hosts.

GE is a racist company and illegally so, I might add. Why it's almost like the KKK incorporated.

General Electric denies black people equal employment opportunities within its senior executive ranks.

Republicans - once they control the country - should investigate General Electric and haul that company's senior executives before a US Federal Grand Jury to answerfor their hiring practices. That company should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and their illegal profits taken from their shareholders.

Not just because General Electric is wholly in the fucking bag for the Socialists ... but because they're violating our hiring and anti-discrimination laws.

Not only would destroying General Electric be good politics for the Republican Party (or the Tea Party) it would also be the right thing to do - since they're the real racists.

Personally, I'd like to see corporations which receive government funding to be forced to exit politics (not fund campaigns, or air broadcasts such as MSNBC). Failing that, we should take their fucking companies once we're in charge.

Obama took over GM and Chrysler. Why can't Republicans take over GE and fire Chris Matthews?

It's time to hold the real racists accountable. And so we're going to count the number of black people at their rallies, on their boards of directors and in their executive ranks.

Cat Stevens reprising his former "peace" days before becoming a card-carrying member of the Religion of Peace (if by Peace, you mean, agreeing with Fatwa's calling for the death of apostates, and willing to participate in said fatwa, if given the opportunity).

Victoria, I attended the Beck Rally and it definitely wasn't all white bread. I particularly liked seeing the number of youngish families with children since Tea Party types are often characterized as middle aged angry white people.

Then the Yardbirds chimed in with The Train Kept A Rollin, followed by the Greatful Dead (minus Garcia) singing Casey Jones (Driving my train, high on cocaine)which was followed by Sheenah Easton singing My Baby Takes the morning Train.It was then rounded out with a jam version of Night Train sung by all the singers and finally they did an encore of the Clash's Train In Vain.

Isn't it funny that The Left copies those Conservative mechanizations that it supposedly hates? "Coffee Party" from Tea Party, "Restore Sanity" from Resore Honor. Is that the best they can do, trot out a few supposedly non scary Muslims, to prove that they really don't hate us? It's the Left that hates America. The American Flag getups were so forced and unnatural, like the whole "rally".

Am I missing something? What is the point of mocking a meme if you are no better than that meme?

Owning the parody doesn't mean you are immune from being made into one. If you think it's not a problem that Republicans can only appeal to increasingly limited or shrinking demographics why not just come right out and say that?

The important part of the story that Ritmo did not link to explains all the other taxpayer costs that have not been paid back and that are not included in Mayor Bloomberg's rah-rah "news analysis."

"“But there are other costs as the government made it possible for the banks to pay back TARP. Those costs can turn out to be larger, and their legacy could last longer.”

Low Interest Rates

Banks benefited from dozens of other programs instituted by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, from the purchase of mortgage-backed securities to the bailout of home- lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The suppression of interest rates at close to zero for most of the last two years has also boosted banks’ income, enabling them to borrow money at almost no cost and lend at higher rates."

Ritmo - it's really not that you're such a fucking tool.

It's that you're so unbelievably bad at it.

If you're going to link to propaganda, it should at least be propaganda that is helpful to your argument instead of a story that exposes your argument to be merit-less.

One of those subsidies is the $350 billion that savers forgo each year because the Fed keeps interest rates near zero, according to Petzel’s calculations. While banks can borrow at close to zero from the Fed, they lend to consumers and corporations at almost 5 percent, or to the Treasury at 2.5 percent, and they get to keep the difference.

The government and the Fed took on more risk than just TARP during the crisis, which isn’t reflected in the program’s cost, said Nomi Prins, a former Goldman Sachs managing director and author of the 2009 book, “It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street.”

According to Prins’s tally, the money plowed into the financial system to prop it up peaked at $19.4 trillion. Banks have benefited from that cash, which helped keep prices of mortgage securities, house prices and other assets overvalued, Prins said in an interview. Even though some of the support has been withdrawn, part of it will likely be lost, such as the hundreds of billions of dollars put into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, she said.

“These are all indirect subsidies the banks got,” Prins said. “So the TARP gains touted by the Treasury are only true if you ignore all the other costs.”"

"The suppression of interest rates at close to zero for most of the last two years has also boosted banks’ income, enabling them to borrow money at almost no cost and lend at higher rates."

What this means is that the government allowed the banks to steal money from prudent savers by allowing the banks to cut interest payments to those savers. That money instead went to line the pockets of the banks owners.

Jon Stewart's core audience don't care about boring shit like money and banks. Money in their world comes from mom & dad!

But I agree about the "restoring sanity" part. Our government has been completely fucking insane for about 20 years now. But I don't look to a couple of comedians, Oprah and Yusuf Islam to do the restoration.

Personally, Martin, if Stewart wants to pick up intelligent thoughts from Beck, I say more power to him. Then if the cross-pollination goes the other way, maybe we can throw out the whole lot of the career politicians that have come close to ruining this country.

And really, what better way for a bunch of left-of-center hipsters to spend their day on the weekend before the election? It's not like the Dems need them manning phone banks or anything like that, right?

I haven't been able to figure out the theme of the rally, though I admit I haven't tried that hard. What does Stewart think has been going on that is insane and what does he wish to restore? I don't watch Stewart.

BTW, I seem to remember GE's credit unit all of a sudden becoming a "bank", without the usual long wait, in order to get TARP funds. Yes, the same GE that owns NBC, PMSNBC, etc. that seem to have become cheerleaders for this Administration.

Ritmo links Bloomie which loves TARP (surprise), but the CBO thinks otherwise; returns haven't been that hot. More to the point, the big banks that were The Zero's cash cows in the Senate get bailed out while smaller banks fail each week by the hundred. Ritmo needs to go back to his gated community and tell all the Vanilla Ices how racist they are.

PS Noting it was Dubya's idea (actually Geithner buddy Paulson's) doesn't make it any less a bad idea. Let the bad ones fail and the well-managed ones pick up their assets (as Barclays did with Lehman, I believe) and keep the taxpayers out of it.

"Stewart walks fine line with rally". I love how the big media boyz [in this case, Drudgico] don't like the idea behind this rally. That they don't want to lose control over their message, which is all manufactured bullshit.

Assisted by a colorful cast of characters, including singers Cat Stevens and Ozzy Osbourne, comics Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert presided over a rally Saturday on the National Mall before a cheering throng.

Obama mixes it up with hecklers in Connecticut and tells them that Democrats are the ones "funding global AIDS" (presumably he meant treatment, not the spread of said AIDS) and that "the other side has not".

Most divisive President ever. George W Bush TRIPLED the funding to fight AIDS in Africa and received praise from many international leftists like Bob Geldof.

A bunch of fucking liberals cavorting onstage with a Muslim terrorist in our nation's capital should stick in every American's craw. And it does.

What we have in the United States under Barack Hussein Obama is a country where Muslim terrorists like Yusuf Islam walk around freely at liberal Democrat rallies instead of being put in a military prison, where they belong.

Of course it was! It was an entertainment event hosted by popular celebrities, targeting the demographic that most attends concerts and festivals. The political elements were also in line with the politics of the same demographic. Soft lefty politics is a fashion accessory and lifestyle choice with this demographic. For the majority of people, politics isn't about philosophy, it's about group identification. I don't understand why people think that the size of rallies such as Beck's or Stewart's has any relationship to the results of the upcoming election. The people that attend these rallies are not there to be persuaded, they're there to be affirmed.

Like Chip, as long as these little darlings clean up after themselves and don't destroy any property, then everything's fine. Doesn't mean I won't make fun of it, of course, but to act like this was some important event, either positive or negative, is silly.

Jesus H Freaking Christ Ham, why do you say things like that second paragraph? Your first one was pretty much inarguable, then you follow it up with lame-ass rhetoric. Do you not understand that this is a problem?

The inclusion of Yusuf Islam was the one really shameful thing. I doubt many of the participants know of his support of the Rushdie fatwa.

My question is, after this election, what will become of "America's Politico's" act? Like most of these fictional characters that seem to pop up on this blog, such as Maxine and Titus, the act, while initially amusing, quickly becomes tiresome and overbearing. A good performer needs to know when to quit.

"In Islam there is a line between let's say freedom and the line which is then transgressed into immorality and irresponsibility and I think as far as this writer (Salman Rusdie) is concerned, unfortunately, he has been irresponsible with his freedom of speech. Salman Rushdie or indeed any writer who abuses the prophet, or indeed any prophet, under Islamic law, the sentence for that is actually death. It's got to be seen as a deterrent, so that other people should not commit the same mistake again."

Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) is a terrorist. He supports killing people who criticize his Prophet. According to his own statements. He said so himself.

Liberal Democrats want to parade such Muslim jihadists on stage and march with them in support of their goal to destroy America. That's why Cat Stevens was front and center at their protest on the Mall today. Democrats want everyone to see they're not afraid to hang out with terrorists.

It sticks in my craw, and if you're a loyal American, it sticks in your craw too.

If you support people like Yusuf Islam - people who want to kill you if you abuse your free speech rights - then by all means, vote for Democrats like Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer.

But if you're a loyal American who is sick and tired of the fucking terrorists getting a free ride on your tax dollars, then you get a chance to fire these pricks on Tuesday.

This rally didn't seem very current. But then maybe it was meant to be a riff on Woodstock, the baby boomer's nostalgia for it I mean, when they were all young and cool and revolution was in the air (Stewart's almost 48 so he'd get that). If it was meant that way, Cat Stevens showing up was just part of the joke.

It has to be that, right? Peace Train, that's a song from the Vietnam protest era, hell no we won't go, make love not war, yadeya. And this was the President's base out there today (except for the non-white part of it), the President who's ramped up the war fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, he's certainly not riding any peace train that's for sure.

Easy answer. It was essentially designed as two "separate" rallies. The Stewart side, meant as more of a serious message of moderation and sanity (i.e. not using Hitler as a comparison) and the Colbert side meant as a satire of the angry side of rallies (i.e. the ones where people will compare Obama or Bush to Hitler/Stalin).

So, the signs you see in the pictures of the rally generally fall into two categories. The Stewart side, with signs along the lines of "I disagree with your opinion, but respect your right to express it" or "I don't want to take my country back, I want to take it forward. On the other side, you have the "Keep Fear Alive" joke posters, including those Hitler ones.

Pretty easy to understand, but of course you want to make it look like "SEE, the liberals are comparing us to Hitler!!!!!"

Our prof Althouse points out that while DC is 60% black, virtually the entire crowd @ this rally was white. Certainly one of the factors is the time. I worked many cases in "the hood" in both KC and Chicago. This rally ended ~3pm. Most black folk don't get going until 1-2pm on weekends. You can call me racist if you wish...but that's the fact, jack!! I submit the planners were racially insensitive by virtue of their scheduling.

"If a few more people are reminded to vote because of the rally, and no-one's hurt, it's probably a better than an average Saturday."

Sadly, it's people like the rally attendees who get their News from cable variety shows that got us into this mess. We should tell them that showing up today counts as their vote and they can take Tuesday off.

DaveW said...I haven't been able to figure out the theme of the rally, though I admit I haven't tried that hard. What does Stewart think has been going on that is insane and what does he wish to restore? I don't watch Stewart.

The Crack Emcee: the first part of why tea partiers bring up the "white" part because several news sources all used the much the same phrase when referring to the race of the attendees at Beck's rally. The DailyCaller had a roundup showing several sources all using much the same phrase.

The second part of why they bring it up is because they don't have the mental and emotional abilities to do anything about it. Instead, they just make things worse and help their opponents at the same time as they smear those like me who could help them. The stupidity of the teapartiers is really quite breathtaking.

Nowadays, the professional left is more than willing to sell out and do what they're told. In this case, they're told to defend Stevens against wingnuts, so that's what they do. And, as with the above, the teaparty types don't have the mental and emotional abilities to do anything about it.

I really don't get your non-response here. You say it is "great" to see Yusuf Islam, but you say nothing about the controversy.

Why not? You do oppose this sort of thing, I know. But you first said you don't want people drawing mohammed. Okay, i disagree, but i understand. But now you don't at least want to denounce a man who fantasized about burning Rushdie alive? I mean what does freedom of expression mean to you if you don't seem to think that we should drive such men out of polite society--at least until they publicly apologize for what they said?

Or is this all about celebrity worship, where if it is just a bunch of morons in revolution islam, you would be happy to denounce their inclusion in anything, but this is the guy who sang "Peace Train" so that is different.

I mean notice, this is how you refer to him: "Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam)." His chosen name these days is Yusuf Islam, but you put that in parenthesis to de-emphasize it. Like you don’t want to even deal with the fact this man has a very dark side.

Yusuf Islam deserves to be condemned and driven out of polite society for what he has done. Jon Stewart deserves to be called out for his hypocrisy in welcoming a man who endorsed the use of death threats to enforce blasphemy rules, after Stewart correctly denounced Revolution Islam for making such threats. And I think you deserve criticism for not summoning the slightest criticism of Yusuf Islam or Stewart, but only noting that there is a "controversy" without taking sides.

Of course you don't see it, somefeller. You love Yusuf Islam too much to pay attention to what he stands for. Putting him on stage, along with portraying political opponents as Hitler speaks volumes about this rally and those who organized it. If you really think they embrace freedom or liberty you are delusional. I cannot fix that.

But go along with them - nothing can go wrong with embracing those hate filled morons. You are all birds of a feather.

So, in other words, you don't have any examples of people making "death to the Jews, death to Israel, death to America" statements from the rally. But that still was its theme. Got it. I guess it was a seekrit theme, sort of like how Obama is a seekrit mooslim.

And I don't love Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam. His sort of soft rock never has appealed to me. Ozzy on the other hand, I do like.

That Tobin Harshaw article was unadulterated bullshit. The Times is concerned. Anne Applebee's is concerned. Timmy Noah is also concerned. Howard Kurtz of course concerned. Applebee's "regrets the loss" of the center, Kurtz hoping and praying Stewart didn't "cross the line". What a pile of hot steaming horse manure. The only thing they are concerned about is their dopey dinner parties, between a sad bunch of D+ elites. This rally just pierced a much needed hole in their bag of hot air.

Hey garage, take a fuckin Midol and go to bed. The election will be over in a few days and you can go back to whining like a spanked pussy how the nation is going to fucking hell in a handbasket. I mean its going to be just like old times for you.

A rally that has the message: People are crazy to oppose their political leaders in power.

How far liberalism has fallen. When I was a liberal, I was dumb, but this is ridiculous and just pathetic. Liberals are so uncool now. What the hell happened to the movement. I just feel pity, nothing else. Check out Reason: Hit and Run for some on-seen video questioning of participants. It makes being an Althouse hillbilly seem like it should involve a PhD. Sanity, yea that's the problem.

It's just participants in their own words. While they demonstrate complete foolishness, it's not really funny as much as sad. To see that progressives are now anti-change, pro-government, pro-conformity, and pro-authority is disappointing. How did that happen? Progressive-ism was always illogical and impervious to history, but now it has neither soul nor intellect.

And how would you respond in a good faith argument if the other person said: "First you must regain your sanity."? It's stupid.

Obama is a muslim, hates America and is doing his best to destroy it. Useful idiots such as somefeller don't mind, and think that Yusuf Islam is a "soft rocker". Well alrighty then. You will love living under the soft despotism of sharia.

to see if the attendees heeded Stewart's admonition not to litter and lived up to Chip's hopes, "As long as the darlings picked up after themselves and left the place as they found it then everything's alright by me."